


Ascending

by Minka_Raven



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Angst, Gen, Introspection, Season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-26
Updated: 2019-12-26
Packaged: 2021-02-26 08:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21966619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Minka_Raven/pseuds/Minka_Raven
Summary: Oliver’s solitary climb to meet Ra's al Ghul during Season 3.
Relationships: Oliver Queen/Felicity Smoak
Kudos: 11





	Ascending

**Author's Note:**

> This was a one-shot originally posted on FF.net  
> It was pure speculation on my part, based on the teaser for Season 3, Episode 9 “The Climb”. I was inspired to re-post it here in honour of Arrow’s final season.

As the bleak winter morning fades to grey, a lone figure climbs slowly up the sheer rock face of the mountain. Behind him, the sacred city of Nanda Parbat disappears into the gathering mist. It's a harsh place of extremes, where summer brings unrelenting heat and winter, mind numbing cold; a hidden, magical city where time has no meaning. And yet, Oliver Queen is running out of time. Ra's al Ghul and his League of Assassins has made it perfectly clear that no quarter will be given if he doesn't succeed in his task. So he moves carefully, trying to find footholds that will bring him closer to the end. He needs to reach the summit before sunset to duel with the Demon.

Oliver grapples upwards as the wind lashes his body. The cold bites at his exposed flesh, dulling his senses and making his eyes water. It takes all his focus to navigate. The peak seems insurmountable and the relentless chill makes his fingers numb. He reaches for an outcrop and it crumbles under his hand. Small rocks fall down around him, forcing him backwards. He falters. This is Ra's al Ghul's way of weakening him.

Even as Oliver's body slows, his mind races on. He thinks of Lian Yu, Hong Kong and the challenges he’s already overcome. Those five lost years were supposed to be his crucible, but he was wrong. They were only the first steps on a path that led him here to this mountain and the battle before him. He takes a moment to rest, leans his forehead against the hard, unforgiving granite and loses himself in the past.

Memories of Slade flow over him like water, drowning out everything around him. The man’s rough voice batters against Oliver’s skull. _“Look at you. Pathetic. Your reliance on others has_ _made you weak, vulnerable._ _The Demon has already won.”_

Deep down, Oliver knows Slade’s words can’t be true. The people in his life - Thea, Dig, Roy, even _Barry_ , make him stronger. But they're not here. He is alone, powerless. He has no one to save him if he falls.

He reaches upwards, but the howling wind pushes against him, unrelenting. Desolation surrounds him and halts his momentum. It would be easy now to let go, drop to the jagged valley floor below and surrender to the oblivion of death; to finally find some peace in the madness of existence. But he can't. He won't. He made a promise to his sister, his friends, his city, his _Felicity..._

Oliver takes a ragged breath. Now is not the time to think of her. Still, despite his best intentions, unbidden she comes to him and enfolds him in her warmth.

_"I believe in you."_

For one brief moment a radiant light surrounds him and then reality intrudes again. His body shudders, as if shaking off an unseen force, and he begins to climb with renewed purpose. Ignoring the merciless cold, Oliver reaches the top and pulls himself onto the snowy plateau. As he stands, facing the group of assembled assassins, he finally accepts his destiny to become a hero.


End file.
